Workers in the Yakima Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $18.89 in May 2012, about 14 percent below the nationwide average of $22.01, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Richard J. Holden noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were significantly higher than their respective national averages in 4 of the 22 major occupational groups, including personal care and service, and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance. Fourteen groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including legal; architecture and engineering; and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 4 of the 22 occupational groups, including transportation and material moving, and community and social service. Conversely, 11 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including business and financial operations, computer and mathematical, and management. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group—transportation and material moving—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Yakima had 8,470 jobs in transportation and material moving, accounting for 10.6 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.7-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $13.92, measurably below the national wage of $16.15.

With employment of 2,250, packers and packagers by hand was the largest occupation within the transportation and material moving group, followed by heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (1,350) and laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, by hand (1,350). Among the higher paying jobs were first-line supervisors of transportation and material-moving machine and vehicle operators, and first-line supervisors of helpers, laborers, and material movers by hand, with mean hourly wages of $23.33 and $19.07, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were cleaners of vehicles and equipment ($10.30) and machine feeders and offbearers ($10.84). (Detailed occupational data for transportation and material moving are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2012/may/oes_49420.htm.)

Location quotients allow us to explore the occupational make-up of a metropolitan area by comparing the composition of jobs in an area relative to the national average. (See table 1.) For example, a location quotient of 2.0 indicates that an occupation accounts for twice the share of employment in the area than it does nationally. In the Yakima Metropolitan Statistical Area, above average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the transportation and material moving group. For instance, packers and packagers by hand were employed at 5.6 times the national rate in Yakima, and industrial truck and tractor operators, at 3.3 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, laborers and freight, stock, and material movers by hand had a location quotient of 1.0 in Yakima, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

These statistics are from the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey, a federal-state cooperative program between BLS and State Workforce Agencies, in this case, the Washington Employment Security Department.

With the release of the May 2012 estimates, OES data are based on the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system for the first time. The OES survey provides estimates of employment and hourly and annual wages for wage and salary workers in 22 major occupational groups and more than 800 detailed occupations for the nation, states, metropolitan statistical areas, metropolitan divisions, and nonmetropolitan areas. In addition, employment and wage estimates for 94 minor groups and 458 broad occupations are available in the national data for the first time. Information about the 2010 SOC is available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/soc.

The May 2012 OES estimates are the first to be produced using the 2012 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Information about the 2012 NAICS is available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/bls/naics.htm .

OES wage and employment data for the 22 major occupational groups in the Yakima metropolitan statistical area were compared to their respective national averages based on statistical significance testing. Only those occupations with wages or employment shares above or below the national wage or share after testing for significance at the 90-percent confidence level meet the criteria. NOTE: A value that is statistically different from another does not necessarily mean that the difference has economic or practical significance. Statistical significance is concerned with the ability to make confident statements about a universe based on a sample. It is entirely possible that a large difference between two values is not significantly different statistically, while a small difference is, since both the size and heterogeneity of the sample affect the relative error of the data being tested.

Technical Note

The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey is a semiannual mail survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands are also surveyed, but their data are not included in the national estimates. OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.2 million establishments. Forms are mailed to approximately 200,000 sampled establishments in May and November each year for a 3-year period. May 2012 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected in May 2012, November 2011, May 2011, November 2010, May 2010, and November 2009. The overall national response rate for the six panels is 76.6 percent based on establishments and 72.9 percent based on employment. The sample in the Yakima Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,206 establishments with a response rate of 77 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.

Area definitions

The substate area data published in this release reflect the standards and definitions established by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.

The Yakima, Wash. Metropolitan Statistical Area  includes Yakima County.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/ro9/home.htm. Answers to frequently asked questions about the OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm. Detailed technical information about the OES survey is available in our Survey Methods and Reliability Statement on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/oes/2012/may/methods_statement.pdf. Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request – Voice phone: 202-691-5200; Federal Relay Service: 1-800-877-8339.

Table 1. Employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey, by occupation, Yakima Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2012

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual(4)
Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	8,470	1.6	$13.92	$28,960
First-Line Supervisors of Helpers, Laborers, and Material Movers, Hand	140	1.4	19.07	39,660
First-Line Supervisors of Transportation and Material-Moving Machine and Vehicle Operators	160	1.3	23.33	48,520
Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity	90	0.9	(5)	(5)
Bus Drivers, School or Special Client	410	1.4	15.37	31,960
Driver/Sales Workers	110	0.4	18.74	38,970
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers	1,350	1.4	17.24	35,860
Light Truck or Delivery Services Drivers	450	1.0	15.81	32,880
Taxi Drivers and Chauffeurs	70	0.7	10.91	22,690
Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants	70	1.1	11.26	23,430
Conveyor Operators and Tenders	(5)	(5)	16.72	34,770
Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators	990	3.3	13.84	28,790
Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment	380	2.0	10.30	21,430
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand	1,350	1.0	12.25	25,470
Machine Feeders and Offbearers	360	5.6	10.84	22,540
Packers and Packagers, Hand	2,250	5.6	11.68	24,290
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Yakima, WA, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_49420.htm. (2) Estimates for detailed occupations do not sum to the totals because the totals include occupations not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers. (3) The location quotient is the ratio of the area concentration of occupational employment to the national average concentration. A location quotient greater than one indicates the occupation has a higher share of employment than average, and a location quotient less than one indicates the occupation is less prevalent in the area than average. (4) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a ‘year-round, full-time’ hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly mean wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data. (5) Estimate not released.

 

Last Modified Date: May 30, 2013